What you need to know
- Early reports of Windows 10 Pro and Linux negatively affecting AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990X performance are incorrect.
- AMD clarified that Windows 10 version 18362 and higher are optimal for Threadripper performance, not a specific license.
- Your expensive processor, thankfully, doesn't require an expensive OS license.
AMD's Ryzen Threadripper 3990X is a beast. It's one of the most powerful CPUs ever created and it can achieve feats no other CPU before it could, like the ability to run Crysis without a dedicated GPU. Up until now, however, logic dictated that Windows 10 Pro simply wasn't sufficient for AMD's powerhouse CPU, and Linux was off the cards if you wanted to get the most out of AMD's monster CPU.
Turns out this isn't true, and AMD has sent out an official response to the issue, as quoted from WCCF Tech:
We wanted to clarify that AMD officially recommends Windows 10 Professional or Linux for the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990X. Higher editions/versions of Windows 10 confer no additional performance or compatibility benefits to the processor.We do understand that this suggestion has been made in some articles, and our team is presently testing this further, but this is the official recommendation.
So while the Ryzen Threadripper 3990X doesn't display all 128 threads for its 64 cores properly in Windows 10 Pro's task manager, the performance of the CPU isn't affected at all. That means you won't actually have to shell out more dough for a Windows 10 Pro for Workstations or a Windows 10 Enterprise license just to get the most out of your pricey new CPU. At $3,990 for the processor itself, that's a very good thing.
Linux patrons will also be happy to note that their operating system of choice won't negatively affect the performance of the Threadripper 3990X, either.
To ensure you can run the Threadripper 3990X without any performance issues, check to see that you're at least on Windows 10 Pro version 18362.592 or higher. You can do this by right-clicking on your Start button, clicking run, and type in winver, and press OK. It will look like the image above.
The Threadripper 3990X is the most beastly processor AMD has ever built. 64 cores, 128 threads, NVMe RAID support, and all the power you'll ever need.
